This invention relates generally to the field of industrial waste disposal, and more particularly to an improved dump site construction and method for constructing the same.
The problem of adequate disposal of toxic industrial wastes has been exhaustively treated in the literature. Unlike as in prior eras, it is no longer possible to dump such wastes into conveniently located streams or bodies of water, and most communities have barely adequate facilities to dispose of normal sewage.
It is known in the art to store such wastes in steel drums, either lined or otherwise, which are buried. Such disposal is very costly, and, more importantly, it is not permanent.
It is also known to isolate areas of land by providing an impervious barrier which extends vertically into the earth to a water impermiable layer of clay or similar material, commonly referred to as an aquaclude. The enclosed area in time becomes filled, and new sites must be periodically constructed.
A recent development is the source chemical landfill, in which a barrier is constructed to provide a sloping bottom surface leading to a leachate basin. A dam defines an area in which solid waste layers are maintained above the sloping bottom. Internal drains feed a drain pipe network leading to the leachate basin from which the leachate is pumped or siphoned to a water treatment unit. The sloping bottom of the landfill must be constructed as a part of the project, since most natural aquacludes lie in a plane parallel to the natural topography, and considerable storage space for solids is wasted by the presence of the leachate basin at the lower level of the landfill.